I object
by Lady.of.Victory.Rising
Summary: AU futurefic. Rory said yes, but standing at the altar, she knows there's something wrong. Lit.


**Title-** I Object  
**Author-** Kàra  
**Summary-** AU futurefic. Rory said yes, but standing at the altar, she knows there's something wrong. Lit.

**A/N-** I can't decide whether or not it's sad that this is actually totally believable as a Gilmore Girls plot twist. Either way, it's not my usual quality, but it was a plot bunny that had to be let out or it was going to make writing the next chapter of Paperthin Hymn impossible.

* * *

_"I've seen this one before,_  
_The girl, she gets away,_  
_And everybody knows it,_  
_But no one tries to stop it..."_  
_-The Fray _

* * *

In the bridal dressing room, at the back of the church, Rory cried. _A bride is supposed to cry on their wedding day_, _but not like this_, she thought. These weren't happy tears of joy, but a bitter weeping that she couldn't explain without dredging up feelings that should have been dead for years. Something was very, very wrong, but she didn't know what it was.

When Paris knocked on the door and called to her that it was time, though, she dried her eyes and plastered on a smile.

She watched from a concealed alcove at the back of the high-walled cathedral as first Paris, on Colin's arm, and then Lane on Finn's, marched down the aisle, and then Canon in D sounded and it was her turn, and Rory couldn't help but feel that the song sounded more like a military victory march than a celebration of her impending marriage. The tears threatened again as an incomprehensible terror filled her, but she took a deep breath and her eyes stayed dry.

There was no swell of love and hope as she found Logan at the end of the aisle. There was a familiarity and a calm happiness as she looked at him, but now, in the eleventh hour, it wasn't right. It wasn't love. It wasn't the perfect, pure feeling she had thought would be when she eventually got married. That was something she had only experienced once.

As the minister began to speak (not Reverend Skinner; she had always thought Reverend Skinner would perform her marriage rites), Rory's eyes surveyed the audience. And it _was_ an audience, not guests. All of the Huntzberger's society friends, and a small cluster of Rory's closest friends and family there as a token representation on her side. She spied her mother and Luke together in the front row. Lorelai was smiling but it looked forced, and Luke was trying to look proud but he wasn't succeeding. Christopher, the father who barely knew her, was grinning like a madman. And at the back of the church...

Rory's heart stuttered. He was here. He had come after all.

The words coming out of the minister's mouth finally registered. "...Speak now, or forever hold your peace."

Rory hadn't looked at her betrothed once since she had reached the altar. Her eyes locked with the one face she had been hoping, fearing to see, and that was the second that her trepidation and her confused, conflicted feelings settled into place and finally, for what felt like the first time in years, began to make sense.

Staring into Jess Mariano's eyes, she spoke up... and to her amazement, so did he. At the exact same moment, two voices rang out, "I object!"

No one paid much attention to the young man who had leapt to his feet at the back of the church. The eyes of everyone in the room were fixed on the bride. Rory's stomach bottomed out.

"Ace?" Logan questioned quietly.

She shook her head. "I am so sorry, Logan. I wanted this to work so much, I wanted so badly for this to be right, but it's not. I think you know that, too. I should have known that when I had to think over your proposal. If it was right, I should have just _known_. But it was never about how much we loved each other- and I did love you, please believe that. We'd been together for awhile, and getting married was what was expected. That's not a reason to do this. I'm sorry, I really am, but I can't... I can't go through with this."

Logan sighed. "Couldn't you have said something sooner?" he asked in a tired voice.

"I didn't even realize how wrong this was until just now. I thought it was just pre-wedding jitters, you know? I thought that once we got closer to the wedding things would start feeling right, but it never did."

The blonde man let out a bitter laugh and ran a hand through his hair. "At least it wasn't just me," he replied. "I love you, Ace, but... I don't know. You've said those words to other guys before and I've never been in love before you. How would I know what 'forever' is supposed to feel like?"

"I'm sorry, Logan," she reiterated.

"Yeah, well, it sucks but... I don't know. You're right. Can't argue with that." He sighed. "Just tell me, is there... somebody else?"

His eyes turned to look at the other objectee, and with Logan's gaze, most of the people sitting in the pews turned around to stare at Jess Mariano, who ignored them to focus on Rory.

She smiled sadly. "Maybe. I don't think so. Once upon a time... maybe. But I think I burned that bridge when I picked you over him. He's here today, though, and he doesn't seem to like the idea of me getting married. I don't know. I'm not certain of much right now. Maybe someday, if he'll ever forgive me, but... I don't know."

"Then... I guess that's it," Logan said sadly. "I guess I'll see you around sometime, then."

"I guess," Rory responded, wiping away a stray tear that finally decided to fall.

* * *

She was back in the dressing room. She wasn't sure where else to go. The guests were in chaos and she wasn't quite ready to face anyone. The door opened nonetheless, whether she was ready or not. The doors always opened and she always walked through them, whether she felt prepared or not. That was how she had managed to get herself into this awful situation in the first place.

"Hi."

The voice made her turn around. Jess stood there in a well-worn blazer, hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"So," he said.

"So."

"Here we are."

She nodded. "Here we are. And I think we've had this conversation before."

"I think we have."

After a pause, he asked, "Are you okay?"

Rory shrugged. "I will be." She shook her head and looked away, staring at the walls, anywhere but meeting Jess' piercing eyes. "I fell out of love with him a long time before he proposed, not that I realized it at the time. It was just... the thing to do, you know? It was what everyone expected, and I made it happen."

Jess nodded. "You always were a people-pleaser." She couldn't respond, because there really was no response. He was right. And once again, he proved an uncanny ability to read her unlike anyone she knew. "So what happened in there?"

"I, uh..."

"You objected."

"_You_ objected."

"Obviously. But you apparently weren't too interested in the whole 'entering into this holy sacrament' thing, either. What happened?"

Rory sighed. She didn't want to talk about this. It was too soon, and she still hadn't really processed the full scope of the mess she had managed to create. But she also knew that this could be the start of her last chance at happily ever after, and she wasn't willing to blow it because, once again, they were both too afraid to say how they were really feeling. For the first time in the course of her relations with Jess Mariano, Rory felt ready to take the plunge and truly speak her heart.

"I saw you," she said, meeting his eyes firmly and speaking in a frank tone. "And it just confirmed what I'd been suspecting for awhile. Logan wasn't it. He wasn't The One. But _you_... you might be. And I knew that I couldn't marry him. Not when you were still out there, somewhere in the world. And I _certainly_ couldn't do it with you watching. You and me... there's too much feeling there for me to just ignore it and pretend it'll go away anymore, because even if it's years later, every time I see you it still feels just the same. Different but... the same."

Jess tried to conceal the fact that his eyes were bugging out just a little, and had a great deal of success. It was only her innate ability to read the tiny changes in his expression that tipped her off to his amazement. "What if I told you I had a girlfriend?" he asked cautiously.

"You wouldn't have come here, with the intention of interrupting my wedding, if you did," she said, shrugging.

"Very nice deductive reasoning, Gilmore."

"I thought so."

"So."

"So."

"What now?"

"Now you leave so that I can get out of this horrible dress, and I go home and cry this horrible day out, and then on Thursday we get coffee."

Jess smirked that patented smirk of his that was guaranteed to make her weak at the knees. "I'll see you Thursday, then."

"Yep. Thursday. I like Thursday."

"Not a bad day at all."

"Now please get out of here so I can take off this stupid taffeta monstrosity."

"You do realize that by implying nudity, you're making it less and less likely that I'll actually leave, right?"

"Jess!"

"Alright, I'm gone!"

_And the rest is history..._

_

* * *

_**A/N2-** Like I said, not my best work. But again, plot bunny. You know how it is. And writing sans posting seems like a waste of an hour.


End file.
